David Benavidez predicts that Caleb Plant will get knocked out by Canelo Alvarez when the two are expected to meet in September for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
If the Canelo-Plant fight doesn’t get made for any reason, Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) insists that he’ll be the one that destroys IBF 168-lb champion Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) himself.
That may be difficult for the former two-time WBC super-middleweight champion Benavidez to do because Plant, 28, has never shown the slightest amount of interest in fighting him over the years.
You have to believe if Plant prices himself out for the Canelo fight by asking for over $10 million+, he and his management will come back later to revisit the negotiations.
In the meantime, Plant surely wouldn’t take on a risky opponent like Benavidez, even though it would strengthen his negotiation muscle if he were to beat him.
Plant will get knocked by Canelo
“Caleb Plant is a p**sy,” said Benavidez to Fighthype. “I don’t care what he saw, what he thinks he saw. Caleb Plant is going to get knocked out by Canelo, and if he doesn’t get knocked out by Canelo, he’s going t get knocked out by David Benavidez.
“I don’t know,” Benavidez said when asked if he thinks he’ll get the Canelo fight next year. “My job is to fight whoever they put in front of me and not ask questions. If I get Canelo next year, then I’m going to be extremely ready,” said Benavidez.
“Hats off to Canelo. He’s a great fighter,” said Benavidez. “He’s been in every fight, but I feel like I’m the one that can give him that great fight.
“We can give them the fight that they want to see like the Barrera-Morales. That’s the fight I can give him because the type of people that fight him, they’re all running from him.
“If you look at the Jacobs fight, if you look at the Golovkin fight, they stood there and fought with him [Canelo].
“That’s why Canelo didn’t stop them. You cant run from Canelo. I got the power, and I got 24 wins with 21 knockouts. So I feel like I got the power, I got the jab, I got great body shots,” Benavidez said.
Plant is a runner like Billy Joe Saunders, but he doesn’t make the same types of mistakes as he does. You’re not going to see Plant leaning forward, inviting Canelo to throw uppercuts as he did against Saunders.
With Plant’s ability to move around the ring, he’ll probably go the 12 round distance with Canelo and lose a wide decision.
If Plant loses to Canelo, he won’t show interest in fighting Benavidez because he’ll be looking to quickly ramp up again by putting together wins so he can potentially face the Mexican star a second time in two or three years.
Benavidez ready to face Canelo
“I can make it happen with him, and I’m just waiting for the opportunity,” said Benavidez about a fight between him and Canelo.
“I think I have to keep doing what I’m doing, winning these fights, and eventually, if this is a second world title eliminator, I’ve already won one.
“If I win another one, they [Canelo Alvarez] has to fight me. A world title eliminator means that the one that won the eliminator has to fight for the world title.
“I’m excited to get in the ring and potentially get in the ring with Canelo.”It’s legit,” said Benavidez when asked if Canelo’s power is legitimate.
“He’s stopped three world champions already. It’s legit, so we got to be extremely ready.
“I feel like that’s a fight that I can make a lot happen, and it’s a fight that the people want to see.
“So we’re trying to make it happen. I’ll fight him in my backyard if that’s what it takes. He calls the shots, I don’t got no power, and I don’t got no belt.
“So if he wants to fight in an 18-foot ring, we can do that. But that’s the type of fighter that I am.
“If he wants to fight at close quarters, so if he wants to make it happen like that, we can make it happen,” said Benavidez on a fight between him and Canelo.
The fight between Benavidez and Canelo isn’t likely to happen soon, unfortunately.
Canelo will be going on a world tour after his September fight with Plant, and he’s already expressed interest in fighting in the UK and Japan.
Fighting in those countries means that Canelo will fight one of the homegrown fighters. Benavidez’s best chance of getting a fight with Canelo is after he finishes his world tour, but that’s not likely either.
Canelo wants to fight Gennadiy Golovkin for a third time, and there’s a possibility he’ll go up to 175 to take on champion Artur Beterbiev. The belt-less Benavidez isn’t in the position to push for a fight with Canelo over those fighters.
Charlo wasn’t interested in the fight
“I wanted [Jermall] Charlo already, but you see who Charlo is fighting now [Juan Macias Montiel],” Benavidez said about his recent hopes of fighting Charlo.
“We could have made a lot of money. He likes money. Me and him could have fought on pay-per-view.
“Who is he fighting? Is it Montiel? We could have fought. I was ready to fight. There were no negotiations.
“I told him, ‘Let’s fight,’ and he started talking s***, and spitting everywhere and yelling like he does, but there was no effort to make the fight,” said Benavidez.
WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) seems to be more focused on getting fights against Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
Charlo traded trash talk with Benavidez recently, saying that he was interested in fighting him, but then he clammed up and stopped talking.
In a sign that he was never serious about beginning with in fighting Benavidez, Charlo is now defending his WBC title against #4 WBC Juan Macias Montiel next month on June 19th.
Montiel’s best win came recently against a washed-up James Kirkland. Other than that, Montiel is known for being knocked out in two rounds by Jaime Munguia in 2017 and fighting to a 10 round draw against Hugo Centeno Jr in 2019.
Charlo’s decision to fight Montiel rather than Benavidez gives you some insight into what type of champion he is.
